1,000 years old, and a block away from a four-story electronics store

The street in this photo has been there for a thousand years, or so the locals tell me.

It used to be part of the city’s main commercial district, back when Yangzhou was one of the richest and most important cities in China. In those days, the salt merchants (who seem to be roughly equivalent to today’s oil tycoon) would come here to buy or trade or do whatever absurdly wealthy people might have done at the time.

Surprisingly little has changed over those thousand years. People still live on this street, and the city’s main commercial district is now just a few blocks away.

Of course, a few things have changed since the end of the Qing Dynasty. One block over from where this picture was taken, there is a giant electronics mall selling all of the newest computers, digital cameras, and assorted tech gadgets. There are so many gadgets for sale there that the place fills two four-story buildings, each plastered with giant advertisements for the various brand-name products you can find inside.

The ancient street has become something of a tourist attraction these days, particularly around the childhood home of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, who grew up in a little Chinese-style townhouse on this street.

But it’s pretty amazing that there are still people living on a street that is somewhere around five times older than the entire history of the United States. And that in all of that time, the economic center of Yangzhou has shifted less than five blocks.